diff --git a/docs/decisions/ADR-0178-compositional-structure.md b/docs/decisions/ADR-0178-compositional-structure.md
index 04657efd..a582d8da 100644
--- a/docs/decisions/ADR-0178-compositional-structure.md
+++ b/docs/decisions/ADR-0178-compositional-structure.md
@@ -131,8 +131,25 @@ gated wrong=0-first and measured honestly.
 - **GB-2 — sequential combination (chains).** Combine running result with the next
   clause via the relational cue → op (guided by ADR-0177 + comparatives). Flips the
   sequential-chain gold cases (0003/0024-class) under self-verification + uniqueness.
+  - **Shipped narrower than scoped (drift G1, audit `AUDIT-ADR-0178-GB1-GB2.md`).**
+    What landed is a **same-unit list-sum-then-scale slice** (`compose_sequential`)
+    that re-extracted from the *whole problem* — it did **not** consume GB-1's
+    `ClauseResult`s and did **not** chain across clauses, so it never flipped real
+    0003/0024 (those stay blocked on extraction + cross-clause chaining). Treat the
+    landed code as **GB-2a (list structure)**, not the full sequential chainer.
 - **GB-3 — lookback / reevaluate** (repoint ADR-0174 `reevaluate`): a later clause
   revises an earlier structural choice. wrong=0-first.
+  - **GB-3a — referent guard (landed).** The lookback review proved GB-2a's
+    whole-problem aggregation admitted wrong structures across referents/scopes
+    (hazards H1/H2/H3 returned 12/20/13). `compose_sequential` is now **clause-scoped**:
+    the list-sum must be licensed within one clause, and a comparative outside that
+    clause refuses. This is the wrong=0-first floor (`compose_sequential` is sealed
+    substrate, not yet wired to a scorer, so serving stayed `3/47/0`); tests in
+    `tests/test_adr_0178_gb3_referent_guard.py` would fail against the pre-guard code.
+  - **GB-3b — constructive cross-clause chaining (next).** Consume GB-1
+    `ClauseResult`s and combine across clauses *referent-safely* (the chainer GB-2
+    was originally scoped to be), with lookback revising an earlier choice. Builds on
+    the now-safe GB-3a floor.
 - **GB-4 — held structural hypotheses + eliminate** (repoint `eliminate_violating` /
   `contemplate`): hold >1 structure on ambiguity, eliminate downstream, refuse if
   irreducible.
diff --git a/generate/derivation/compose.py b/generate/derivation/compose.py
index ed089855..1c96bcb5 100644
--- a/generate/derivation/compose.py
+++ b/generate/derivation/compose.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 from typing import Final
 
+from generate.derivation.clauses import segment_clauses
 from generate.derivation.comparatives import comparative_step, extract_comparative_scalars
 from generate.derivation.extract import extract_quantities
 from generate.derivation.model import GroundedDerivation, Quantity, Step
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ def _same_unit(quantities: list[Quantity]) -> bool:
 
 
 def compose_sequential(problem_text: str) -> Resolution | None:
-    """GB-2 composer — the same-unit **list-sum-then-scale** structure.
+    """GB-2/GB-3 composer — the **clause-local** same-unit list-sum-then-scale.
 
     Scope (deliberately narrow): only same-unit quantity *lists*. The list sums
     (additive cue) and any stated comparative scales the sum (sum-then-scale). A
@@ -51,17 +52,40 @@ def compose_sequential(problem_text: str) -> Resolution | None:
 
     Product-of-all / cross-unit products are **not** this composer's job (that is
     MS-3 ``search_chain``); a non-same-unit problem yields no candidate here and
-    refuses. This keeps GB-2 to the one structure it adds and avoids the
+    refuses. This keeps the composer to the one structure it adds and avoids the
     product×comparative blowups a blunt all-bases composer produced.
 
+    **GB-3 referent guard (wrong=0-first).** The list-sum structure must be
+    licensed *within a single clause*. The earlier whole-problem version summed any
+    same-unit quantities anywhere in the text, which silently merged unrelated
+    referents/scopes (a later sentence's quantity, a second actor's total, a
+    depletion event) into one sum — admitting wrong structures whose value happened
+    to ground (audit ADR-0178 hazards H1/H2/H3). This composer cannot model
+    referents, so when the licensed structure would span clauses it **refuses**
+    (cross-clause, referent-aware chaining is GB-3b):
+
+    * quantities must live in exactly **one** clause (segment_clauses); 0 or >1
+      quantity-bearing clauses ⇒ refuse;
+    * any comparative scalar **outside** that clause ⇒ refuse (it binds to a
+      referent/structure this slice does not model).
+
     Refuse-preferring; deterministic; sealed.
     """
-    quantities = list(extract_quantities(problem_text))
+    # GB-3: the structure must be licensed within a single clause (referent guard).
+    quantity_clauses = [c for c in segment_clauses(problem_text) if extract_quantities(c)]
+    if len(quantity_clauses) != 1:
+        return None
+    clause = quantity_clauses[0]
+    # A comparative living outside the list clause binds an unmodelled referent.
+    if len(extract_comparative_scalars(problem_text)) != len(extract_comparative_scalars(clause)):
+        return None
+
+    quantities = list(extract_quantities(clause))
     if not 2 <= len(quantities) <= MAX_QUANTITIES or not _same_unit(quantities):
         return None
 
-    tokens = _tokens(problem_text)
-    tail = tuple(comparative_step(cs) for cs in extract_comparative_scalars(problem_text))
+    tokens = _tokens(clause)
+    tail = tuple(comparative_step(cs) for cs in extract_comparative_scalars(clause))
     start, *rest = quantities
 
     candidates: list[GroundedDerivation] = []
diff --git a/tests/test_adr_0178_gb3_referent_guard.py b/tests/test_adr_0178_gb3_referent_guard.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b3f7fbd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_adr_0178_gb3_referent_guard.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+"""ADR-0178 GB-3 — the referent guard (wrong=0-first lookback increment).
+
+The GB-2 lookback review (audit docs/handoff/AUDIT-ADR-0178-GB1-GB2.md) found that
+``compose_sequential`` summed same-unit quantities from the *whole problem*,
+silently merging unrelated referents/scopes — admitting wrong structures whose
+value happened to ground (hazards H1/H2/H3). GB-3's first, wrong=0-first slice is
+the *defensive refusal*: the list-sum structure must be licensed within a single
+clause; cross-clause aggregation refuses (referent-aware chaining is GB-3b).
+
+These tests would FAIL against the pre-GB-3 whole-problem composer (which returned
+12 / 20 / 13 respectively), so the obligation is proven, not decorative.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from generate.derivation import compose_sequential
+
+
+class TestReferentGuardRefuses:
+    def test_h1_unrelated_same_unit_across_sentences(self) -> None:
+        # Tom's apples are a different referent; the whole-problem composer summed
+        # 6+4+2=12. Two quantity-bearing clauses -> refuse.
+        text = (
+            "Alice has 6 apples and 4 apples. Tom has 2 apples. "
+            "How many apples does Alice have?"
+        )
+        assert compose_sequential(text) is None
+
+    def test_h2_comparative_bound_to_other_referent(self) -> None:
+        # "twice" modifies Tom, not Alice's list; the whole-problem composer applied
+        # it to Alice's sum -> (6+4)*2 = 20. The comparative lives outside the list
+        # clause -> refuse.
+        text = (
+            "Alice picked 6 apples and 4 apples. Tom picked twice as many apples. "
+            "How many apples did Alice pick?"
+        )
+        assert compose_sequential(text) is None
+
+    def test_h3_later_depletion_outside_asked_scope(self) -> None:
+        # The "gave 3 away" event is a different scope; the whole-problem composer
+        # summed 6+4+3 = 13. Two quantity-bearing clauses -> refuse.
+        text = (
+            "Alice picked 6 apples and 4 apples. Later she gave 3 apples away. "
+            "How many apples did she pick before giving any away?"
+        )
+        assert compose_sequential(text) is None
+
+
+class TestSingleClauseStructuresStillResolve:
+    """The guard must not regress the legitimate single-clause GB-2 structures."""
+
+    def test_single_clause_list_sum(self) -> None:
+        res = compose_sequential("She picked 6 apples and 4 apples.")
+        assert res is not None and res.answer == 10.0
+
+    def test_single_clause_sum_then_scale(self) -> None:
+        # list + comparative in the SAME clause (comma, not a sentence break).
+        res = compose_sequential("She picked 6 apples and 4 apples, then doubled her apples.")
+        assert res is not None and res.answer == 20.0
+
+
+class TestDeterminism:
+    def test_deterministic(self) -> None:
+        t = "Alice has 6 apples and 4 apples. Tom has 2 apples. How many?"
+        assert compose_sequential(t) == compose_sequential(t)